Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Plantain Lily, Funkia

Brand:  Walters Gardens

Description:

A wonderful petite variety featuring dense mounds of pale yellow foliage, surrounded by a wide, deep green margin; lavender flowers appear in mid-summer; an easy to grow and low maintenance selection, perfect for landscapes, containers or en masse

Ornamental Features

Mouseketeer Hosta features dainty spikes of lavender bell-shaped flowers rising above the foliage in mid summer. Its attractive small textured round leaves remain yellow in colour with distinctive forest green edges throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Mouseketeer Hosta is a dense herbaceous perennial with tall flower stalks held atop a low mound of foliage. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects

Mouseketeer Hosta is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Groundcover
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Mouseketeer Hosta will grow to be about 8 inches tall at maturity extending to 12 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 12 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 10 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. This plant should not require much in the way of fertilizing once established, although it may appreciate a shot of general-purpose fertilizer from time to time early in the growing season. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Mouseketeer Hosta is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, most plants cannot be expected to survive the winter if left in containers outdoors, and this plant is no exception. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.